It is estimated that billions of dollars in coins are idly sitting in American households. This “loose change” would be better served if stored in a bank account accruing interest and/or readily available to the user, for example, when the user attempts to retrieve cash from an automated teller machine (ATM).
Currently, there are coin machines available in grocery stores that receive coins and generate a coupon for use at the grocery store or a gift certificate for use at a predetermined store. However, such machines are not desirable for use by a certain segment of the population. Teenagers, for example, might not be interested in gathering loose change around the house to just to receive a coupon for purchasing groceries or products located in that particular store. Moreover, organizing and wrapping coins in coin sheets for deposit at a bank is time consuming and inconvenient, and certain users may find that the cost to travel and the time expended to deposit the coins may be greater than any value received by depositing the coins into a bank account. Some individuals without bank accounts may find the traditional method of depositing coins even more cumbersome and time-consuming and if they must first travel to a bank, and open an account before they are able to deposit their change. What is needed is a convenient way for individuals with or without bank accounts to deposit change for immediate use.